Peter Woicke, new Executive Vice President of IFC (the World Bank’s private finance investment arm) told IFC magazine Impact why he left J.P. Morgan Securities after 29 years:
I had tremendous fun working for J.P. Morgan, in different regions and different jobs. But in the end, the aim of every position I have had was to improve the lot of shareholders. That’s OK, but there is a time in your life when the objective or mission of an organisation like IFC – to reduce poverty and improve living conditions in the developing world – are more appealing than the shareholders’ lot.”
It is unclear whether Woicke will go further to explore the contradictions between shareholder value and poverty elimination, but civil society groups could encourage him by sending him reading lists on the subject.
